Replies to reviews of Erica Benner, Machiavelli’s Ethics Machiavelli in the history of ideas 1. Early defenders of Machiavelli. Several reviewers imply that my argument for an un-Machiavellian Machiavelli depends on comments by Rousseau, Harrington, Bacon and other early modern … Continue reading →

Replies to reviews of Erica Benner, Machiavelli’s Ethics In the interest of debate, here are a few responses to criticisms made in recent reviews of Machiavelli’s Ethics. I’ll start with the most general arguments and work towards more detailed points … Continue reading →

I’ve recently been asked to write a few book reviews. At first I thought I should keep myself honest by following the Guidelines for Charitable Reviewing set out here a few days ago. Then friends pointed out that those guidelines … Continue reading →

I’ve recently been asked to write a few book reviews. While I agreed to do some, I did so with trepidation. One’s chances of writing fair, balanced reviews are best when two conditions hold: (A) When the reviewer doesn’t personally … Continue reading →